Heretofore, dipeptide sweeteners such as the methyl ester of L-aspartyl L-3 phenylalanine and similar lower alkyl esters of aspartylphenylalanine have been evaluated as a possible sweetening compound to be applied to food products such as ready-to-eat breakfast cereal. Theoretically, this sweetener could serve as a substitute for conventional sugars which are used as coatings on the food products like flaked or puffed ready-to-eat cereals. Reduction in the level of surface-applied sugar on such products is thought to improve the comestible from the standpoint of its lessened caries-inducing character.
Such dipeptides are quite sweet and, therefore, must be applied in a form wherein they are relatively dispersed to avoid localized organoleptic reactions which offset the contribution that might otherwise be provided from the sweetener being localized on the food product surface. On the other hand, in attempting to apply a relatively dilute solution to a ready-to-eat breakfast cereal product, the application of the compound is unsatisfactory since it has been found that the particles thereof tend to flake off the food product. Moreover, it had been thought by those skilled in the art that water as a diluent for such dipeptide sweeteners, hereinafter referred to as APM, was impractical due to the relative insolubility of the APM and the degradation thereof in aqueous medium. Other attempts to employ a more compatible diluent such as alcohol or fat are impractical for one reason or another. In the case of fat, the level thereof necessary to effectively disperse sweetener is too high.